The present invention concerns the cooling of brakes on an aircraft by means of brake cooling fans. More particularly, but not exclusively, this invention concerns an aircraft including a brake cooling fan, and a method of cooling an aircraft wheel brake on an aircraft using a brake cooling fan. The invention also concerns an associated control system and an associated computer program product.
The performance of wheel brakes on an aircraft is affected by their temperature. Brake fade is exhibited at high temperatures for example. It is therefore often the case that an aircraft, particularly a commercial passenger aircraft, is prevented, for safety reasons, from taking off if the temperature of the brakes is too high, which if the aircraft has only recently landed may be the case. It is possible to improve aircraft turnaround times by reducing the time required for the brakes to cool down. Fans may be used to assist and accelerate the cooling process. In some aircraft, integrated brake cooling fans can be provided on the aircraft. An advantage of providing such fans on the aircraft is that cooling of the brakes by means of the fans may be started sooner than if external fans were used (which would of course require the aircraft to be stationary before such external fans could be used). A disadvantage of integrated brake cooling fans is that they add mass to the aircraft, which is undesirable. Not only do the brake cooling fans themselves add mass, but so also do the associated power and control systems, which include items such as power and control cabling/wiring, fan motors for driving the fans, and the equipment required to provide a suitable source of electrical power for the fan motors.
AU 2012/101825 is an example of a proposal of a portable brake cooling fan. Other means for cooling aircraft brakes, provided on-aircraft, are suggested in US 2009/152055 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,958.
The present invention seeks to mitigate one or more of the above-mentioned problems. Alternatively or additionally, the present invention seeks to provide an improved means of cooling brakes on an aircraft.